autonomy

China has not gone back on its agreements with Britain over the future of Hong Kong, whose autonomy is far greater than what Britain expected three decades ago, a former aide to late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has said.

The Chinese system is centralized because Beijing continues to exert great influence on the actions of the local administrations. But China is also undergoing decentralization processes in the sense that local administrations are being increasingly taken into account in the regional development programs.